Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon series) (5 page)

Chapter 10

T
he arguments raged back and forth across the table for two hours before the General decided to put an end to it.

‘That’s enough ladies and gentlemen.  I want th
ree military teams put together with a scientist in charge of each.  Our first task will be to ascertain there are no aliens aboard and the ship is indeed empty.

I want you to take all the recording equipment you deem necessary to map out the inside of the ship.  The President will be here in a few hours and I want to have something concrete to show him, so get going.’

The meeting broke up quickly.  Steven’s father was the first scientist to be chosen while it was deemed too risky to put his mother in the ship at the same time.  So she had to wait for the first footage to be beamed back to the operations room.

Doctor
Quail a brilliant young scientist of 27 was chosen as the second scientist and Doctor Gail Wishaw a top physicist as the third.  They were ready within the hour and then spent the next few hours searching through the ship.

The President of the United States arrived while the search was still continuing and joined in the silent visual at the screens as they made their way through the ship.  Occasionally he asked a question and Mary Gordon found herself with the task of answering them.

‘Do you really think its empty Doctor Gordon?’

‘It seems to be sir.’

‘Couldn’t the aliens have some sort of cloaking device?’

‘You mean they may be watching our behaviour sir?’

‘Yes that sort of thing.’

Mary took a deep breath, ‘it is always a possibility, but chances are
, there are so many of our people in there now someone would have bumped into one of them accidentally by now.’

‘Fascinating, we’re really viewing the interior of an alien ship.’

Mary smiled at his enthusiasm.  The President’s eyes sparkled with delight.  He reminded her of a small boy in a toyshop.  For a moment her thoughts swung onto her own son who still sat in an isolation chamber deep within the facility.  She had asked the President for a reprieve, but he had listened to the military commanders and refused to let him out of the isolation chamber.

‘We still haven’t been able to a
ccess the second ship have we Doctor?’

‘No sir?’

‘Do you think that maybe the aliens are in there watching us?’

‘You mean to see how we behave?’

‘Yes.’

‘It is a possibility we have considered sir, but we just don’t know.’

General Archibald leaned forward deciding to add to her comments, ‘just in case they are sir, everyone has been warned to be on their best behaviour.’

The President lifted an eyebrow, ‘of course General, that’s why your men are all still armed.’

The General leaned back out of ridicules way and Mary thought she detected a darkening beneath the ebony skin.

The President went on, ‘knowing what I do about the human race I to would think twice about showing my face to armed men.  Especially if I looked radically different.’

Mary almost laughed as the General squirmed, ‘I deemed it a necessary precaution sir.’

‘Of course General you were completely right.’ 

The President smiled amiably at the General who almost sighed out loud with relief.  He was off the hook and he knew he had done the right thing, but the President was now telling him to back off a little and for the moment the burden of command seemed a little lighter.  He would slowly cut back the armed troops to a perimeter out of small arms range.

Mary had a question of her own to ask, ‘Mr. President, the whole world is now aware of these ships, are you going to invit
e scientists from other countries to assist us?’

The President re-crossed his legs, ‘not at the moment
Doctor, I want to learn as much as possible about these ships.’

‘Do you think other countries will stand for that sir?’

‘We’re still the most powerful country on this planet Doctor Gordon, they have no choice.  Oh don’t worry; in time we will invite other scientists to view them if they are still here.’

The look the President gave her
, left her in no doubts her own nationality would be held up by the United States like a badge.  A badge that said look, we do let foreign scientists on board the ships.  It would be a propaganda move to keep others away while they stole as much information and technology as possible; she felt in her gut that they would keep it to themselves.

Disappointment blossomed in her heart and she began to wonder how long they would suffer her and her family
’s presence at the institute.  Or how long it would be before they were shuffled onto another project.

No, she decided they would need to keep them there to keep up appearances, but wondered if the only thing they would be allowed to inspect was the broom cupboard.  That’s if they could ever find it.

Even the President began to comment on how blank everything was.  Every monitor showed the same scene.  Room after featureless room, it was perplexing.

Deep in the bowls of the institute Buzz had just commented on the same thing to Steven.  He had patched into one of the monitors and dragged it over to the big window of his cell.  They sat on either side of the glass watching one of the groups progress.

Buzz shook his head, ‘how are they supposed to fly that thing if there ain’t no controls.’

‘Maybe they control it with their minds.’

Buzz looked at his friend quizzically, ‘yeah, mind control, that would work.  Wouldn’t need any dials or switches with that, good thinking buddy.  Only one problem though.’

‘What's that?’

‘We humans aren’t telepathic.  We can’t control our mouths let alone our minds.  So I hope they don’t expect us to fly the bloody thing.’

Amusement glittered in Steven’s eyes for a moment, ‘I don’t know Buzz, when I touched that ship I felt something.  I don’t know what it was but it was something.’

Steven jumped as Buzz thumped the glass hard, ‘thought I told you to stop talking like that.  Christ man they’ll never let you out of here.  All they’ll do is add a little padding.’

The amusement retuned to Steven’s eyes as he noted the concern on his friend
’s face, ‘ok I’ll try not to.  Do you know when they’re letting me out of here yet?’

Buzz shifted uncomfortably, ‘word is not yet pal.  Hang on in there, they can’t keep you in there forever.’

‘I'm beginning to think they can.’

The trouble was Buzz was begi
nning to believe the same thing and wondered what they would do to them if he sprang Steven.  He shuddered involuntarily as a vision of them being cut down in a hail of bullets passed through his mind.

Steven noticed, ‘you feeling ok Buzz?’

‘Yeah partner, just hang on in there.’

Chapter 11

T
he following day things picked up a pace.  Most of the soldiers were drawn back and carefully selected teams of scientists swarmed all over the ship. 

Brian and Mary Gordon found themselves slipped onto the back burner.  A man neither had heard of before appeared on the scene and took over the operation from them.  He never explained what he was a scientist of, but it was obvious the Pentagon trusted him.

Mary wrinkled her nose every time he came near.  Almost six foot tall he was dressed in what looked like hand me downs.  His personal hygiene fared no better.  He had long black hair and a black beard both unkempt.  Mary could smell his unwashed body from a meter away and thought close up she could also detect the smell of urine, but what she disliked about him most was his wild black eyes.

Relegated to the position of spectators they took the opportunity to view the data that the teams were bringing back.

After air samples and swabs of the interior were inspected it was discovered the ship was sterile in nature, without as much as a speck of dust.  Mary went to see their new boss, Doctor Simon Sales.

She found him in her husband’s office and tried hard not to show the disgust she felt for him.

‘Doctor Sales.’

‘What do you want Mrs. Gordon?’

She bristled as he deliberately left out her professional title, but she kept her anger in check, ‘I hear the ship is completely sterile, inside and out.  That being the case, I don’t see any reason to keep my son locked up any longer.’

Doctor
Sales knew exactly who the Gordon’s were and especially Steven.  Indeed he had spent the last ten years ridiculing the once brilliant teenager’s theories to a small circle of scientists, all of which had the Governments ear.  Unfortunately he found fertile ground on which to sow dissent.  For it is far easier to disprove a new theory than to prove it.

He smiled inwardly.  He had made a living out of ridiculing this family and the best thing about it was they didn’t even know it.  He had been able to block half a dozen research pro
jects put forward by the Gordon’s; projects that would have advanced the human understanding of the universe by a hundred years.

He picked his words for maximum effect, ‘it’s probably safer for everyone if the retard stays where he is for now.’

Anger surged through her, ‘who the hell do you think you’re talking to?  How dare you talk about my son like that!’

Triumph shone from his eyes, ‘of course I can always have that bastard retard slung into an isolation cell for the rest of his life and you and that husband of yours along with him.’

His words slammed into her like a fist.  She reeled, her face turning white from shock.  In that moment she knew he was capable of carrying out his threat.  Without another word she turned and walked out of the office and went looking for her husband.  Ten minutes later he strode down the corridor with the direct intentions of punching Doctor Sales out.  He didn’t get far.

Colonel Howe had overheard the remarks made by
Doctor Sales to Mary and had shadowed her.  He forced Brian into an empty office none to gently.

‘Get out of my way Colonel.’

‘No chance Doctor.’

A distraught Mary tried to plead with him, ‘please Brian don’t go near him, he could hurt Steven.’

‘He won’t be in a fit state to hurt anybody.  Get out of my way Colonel.’

Brian tried to push his way past but the Colonel grabbed him.  Much to his surprise Brian broke free easily and almost got past him.  The Colonel pounced again and soon found he had to use all his training to try and subdue the enraged scientist.  Eventually his superior fitness won out and he was able to put the scientist in a serious arm lock, but it wasn’t until Mary burst into tears that he finally felt the strength flood out of the man.

‘It's ok Colonel, you can let me go now.’

The Colonel did so but not without a little trepidation.  Brian was now only concerned about Mary.  With his eyes cast down in shame he apologised, ‘I’m sorry darling, but … well … you know?’

Mary threw her arms around the neck of her husband and held on.  Long sobs shook her petite frame.  ‘I know, I shouldn’t have told you.’

‘No I shouldn’t have reacted that way.’

She pulled back and half smiled with a sob, ‘no Brian I shouldn’t have told you.  I think … maybe somewhere deep down I wanted you to kick the shit out of him.’

He smiled grimly, ‘and somewhere not so deep down I still want to.’  He rustled through his pockets and produced a handkerchief.  Her smile brightened a little.

Their attention was returned to the Colonel when he let out a big sigh of relief.

An embarrassed Brian turned to the Colonel and held out a hand, ‘I'm sorry Colonel Howe, please accept my apology for my behaviour.’

The Colonel wiped his brow with a sigh and held out his hand with a grin, ‘I’m sure glad you weren’t mad at me Doctor.  Remind me to never upset your wife but what are you going to do about Sales now?’

A cold look crept into the Doctors eye
s, ‘I’m a Highlander Colonel a Scottish Highlander, we were all born with infinite patience and a long memory.’

The Colonel shook his head sadly, ‘I think you might need it too.  I have about the highest clearance you can get in the military and even I can’t find out much about this clown.  All I do know is
, he has a lot of clout.’

Brian nodded thoughtfully, ‘I know we’ve never heard of him and we
’re the top people in our field.’

‘May I
say something off the record Doctor?’

‘Please feel free Colonel.’

‘I’ve seen action many times Doctor and a man in my position relies on the men around him.  After a while you begin to get an instinct about people and how much you can trust them.  I’ll tell you now, there's not one of my men including myself who want anything to do with this Sales character.  The President was wrong when he took you and your wife off this project.’

Brian was quite taken aback by the big man’s confession, ‘well… I’ll take that as a vote of confidence Colonel, thank you.’

‘I have a bad feeling about this fellah Doctor; sooner or later he’s gonna balls it up big time.  That normally means we have to go in and sort it all out.  It would be nice to know you and your wife are going to be around to back us up when it all goes down.  So please don’t do anything to give that shit an excuse to throw you out.’

Brian felt quite flustered, ‘well … ok … I’ll try and keep the peace until then.’

The Colonel nodded his thanks, ‘in the mean time I’ll try and find out what I can about him for you.’  He turned and left them.

Brian raised his eyebrows at Mary, ‘do you think he just said that to calm me down?’

She smiled the tears all dried up and smoothed out the rumples on the collar of his lab coat, ‘I don’t think the Colonels the type of man who tries to placate anybody dear.  He’s the type of man who knows exactly what he’s saying and who he’s saying it too.’

A shudder travelled the length of his spine, ‘well I hope to God he’s wrong about anything going wrong.  Those ships could advance our civilisation by thousands of years over night.’

Another week passed with no results.  Doctor. Sales, who now treated the ship as his own personal property, began to fly into unreasonable rages.  On a couple of occasions Brian and Mary found themselves on the receiving end of these black tantrums, but on each occasion, either Colonel Howe or one of his men was able to place themselves between them.  They would ask the enraged man a load of stupid questions, which deflected his anger. 

No matter where Mary or Brian went, one of the elite soldiers never seemed to be far away.  It felt strange at first but they soon became used to it and then came to draw some comfort from it.  The support from the remainder of their staff was also overwhelming.

Mary was sitting at one of the main monitors when she suddenly realised something was far from right.  She knew Sales had ventured into the ship with some of his own men and bags of equipment, but it wasn’t until he began removing teams of scientists from what they thought of as the engine room that she began to suspect he was up to no good.

Sales had promised the President positive results within the first week.  But as time went on and nothing had been found his frustration grew.  The President had been onto him three times today already and he had begun to get the feeling if he didn’t come up with something shortly then the project would be passed onto someone else.

Sales had no intention of letting that happen.  It was time to play his ace in the hole.  The three men with him were engineers.  Experts at smash and grab tactics.  Industrial espionage was their forte and employed almost exclusively by specialist scientific teams buried deep within the Government structure.

The leader of the team swept around the walls and consoles running his hands over everything, occasionally knocking them with a small metal hammer.  Sales watched him in fascination.

He went round once more then came back to a particular spot.  ‘Right here.’

His companions unzipped their black duffel bags.  The first approached with a
cutting tool designed for fire fighters to cut people out of car wrecks.  The second stood back hefting a large sledgehammer.

Mary’s hand flew to her mouth, ‘oh no, you can’t do this,’ her finger punched the intercom button, ‘don’t you dare Sales.’

His head flicked towards the camera, then nodded at one of the men.  Mary saw the head of the sledgehammer for a fraction of a second before the screen went blank.

Her finger punched the intercom again, ‘for God’s sake someone get to the engine room and stop Sales.’  She turned to the Soldier who hovered near, ‘did you just see what he was going to do?’

‘Yes ma’am.’

‘Then go get my husband
and Colonel Howe and tell them; quickly.’

They left the control room together and went in different directions.  The Soldier quickly located both men and returned with them to the control room.

Brian squeezed in between two operators, ‘what's happening Malcolm?’

The bespectacled operator; was sweating and looked frightened, ‘Sales has taken wrecking gear to the engine room.  He’s trying to force off a panel.’

‘You can’t be serious?’

He moved aside, ‘look for yourself Brian.  He’s taken out every camera in the Engine room, except this one.  They’ve missed it so far.’

It took a few seconds for Brian to comprehend what he was seeing, two men laboured with sledgehammers at a single spot.  ‘Oh my God, he’s gone mad.’

Colonel Howe leaned over his shoulder, ‘not a good idea?’

Brian looked at the Colonel as if he were stupid, ‘do you know what's behind that panel Colonel?’

He shrugged, ‘no, do you?’

‘No and that’s exactly the point.  What if there's sensitive equipment behind there, the vibrations could smash it.  What if they are meant to operate in a vacuum, or if there's some form of cooling gas behind that panel.’

The Colonels eyebrows shot up in alarm, ‘you mean like a gas not manufactured on Earth, potentially lethal.’

‘Potentially lethal Colonel, what happens if there's some form of harmless bacterium behind that panel?  Harmless to the aliens that built it that is. Come on you’ve been hanging around us long enough to know that.’

‘It could cause a plague, one we couldn’t control.’

‘With the potential of wiping out every living thing on Earth.’

‘That’s bad Doctor
, but wouldn’t you have had to do something like this anyway … eventually?’

Brian squeezed his temples, ‘yes Colonel, eventually, after many months of study, or maybe years.  With every single precaution that could be taken and recorded in minute detail in case something went wrong.  Tell me, do you notice the deliberate error here?’

‘The ship isn’t sealed.’    

Brian turned back to the monitor.  ‘You got it in one.’  ‘Hasn’t anyone tried to stop him?’ he asked Malcolm.

‘Yeah but …’ a screech of metal, halted the flow of words as both men craned forward to get a better look at what was happening.  Two of the men bent to the task and seemed to come away with something in their hands.  Sales moved forward cautiously and peered inside. 

Just then Mary burst into the room.  She stopped for a second to get her bearing
s, ‘get the hell away from that panel Sales.’

She advanced on him a small ball of fury.  Malcolm got halfway to his feet, grabbing for the intercom button, ‘for God’s sake keep away from him Mary, he’s got a …’

Sales had got insolently to his feet, reached behind him and lifted his arm towards Mary.  A flash of yellow flame lanced out.  The detonation ringing off the walls drowned out her cry of surprise and pain, she hit the floor with an audible thump.

‘… Gun.’  Malcolm finished his sentence.

There was a moment’s stunned silence, then Brian was on his feet, ‘Nooooo.’

Colonel Howe started rapping out orders into his radio and stepped in front of the distraught scientist, ‘No heroics Doc, I've sent my men in to get her out and deal with Sales.’